


Welcome to Ares

by Nyena



Category: The Martian (2015), The Martian - All Media Types, The Martian - Andy Weir
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-13
Updated: 2020-07-29
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:20:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25245280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nyena/pseuds/Nyena
Summary: Mark closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He knew what was happening and he was trying not to cry. Seven years of training and two trips to the ISS down the drain. He was being kicked out of the Ares training program he knew it.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 18





	1. Chapter 1

Mark closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He knew what was happening and he was trying not to cry. Seven years of training and two trips to the ISS down the drain. He was being kicked out of the Ares training program he knew it. He had gotten an email from Venkat Kapoor the Director of Mars Operations a week ago setting up a meeting with him and he’d been panicking the entire time. Why they had to tell him he was out of the program in person he didn’t know. He would have preferred it be over email so he could ugly cry in private but hey you get what you get and you don’t throw a fit. Even being selected for the training program was a huge honor and making it as far as he had well, that was pretty damn amazing. Realizing he’d been holding his breath he let it out as he knocked on Kapoors door.  
“Come on in,” Venkat called from behind the door. Mark opened the door and his heart started racing. Why the hell was the Administrator of NASA here? Teddy Sanders himself was standing behind the desk next to Venkat looking over his shoulder at something Venkat was typing. Mark had never met the man even when he’d been told he had been selected for his ISS missions “Mark!” Venkat said “How are you?”  
“I’m great Sir” Mark lied as he took the seat in front of Venkat's desk that he had indicated he should take. “A little confused about this meeting though.”  
“I’m sure you are” Teddy said, “Mark, I’m Teddy Sanders the Administrator of NASA. It's nice to meet you.”  
“It’s mutual sir” Mark said, shaking the man's hand. “Why you’re here to kick me out of the Ares training program is a little weird though” Venkat let out a laugh at his comment. This relaxed Mark a little bit but the huge hole in his gut was still there and he wasn’t going to get his hopes up. He was being kicked out not selected, he was being kicked out not selected. He wasn’t going to Mars he was not going to Mars he was not. Mark kept repeating this montra to himself in his head as the men continued talking. “We’re not kicking you out of the training program Mark.” Teddy said.  
“Well technically we are Teddy” Venkat smiled. Mark didn’t think that his stomach could drop anymore but there it went. He was already gripping his phone planning to call his mom and sob in his car. He wondered how long it would take to get a flight to chicago. It is totally manly to need a hug from your mom when your life's goal was falling apart in front of you.  
“Mark” Teddy continued “You have excelled here at NASA”  
“But it’s you not me?” Mark finished. That got a stifled laugh out of Teddy himself which Mark counted as a win.  
“And on your trips to the ISS while your commanders have complained that you are a handful; they also say that you have a willingness to learn and a love for what you do and say that they would love to work with you again and that you are an asset to any crew you join.” This caught Mark by surprise he hadn’t thought that any of his past commanders had liked him very much but Mark couldn’t believe this. This wasn’t happening! The Administrator of NASA was here telling him what a good astronaut he was? This was only going one way and Mark liked where that was. “It is for these reasons and more combined with your outstanding educational record that we are selecting you for the Ares 3 mission to Mars. Congratulations Mr. Watney” Mark was pretty sure his heart stopped for at least 20 seconds before he even realized what was going on. He might have even passed out for a few seconds because next thing he knew Venkat was waving his hand at Mark and practically yelling his name “Mark! Mark! Watney! are you okay?” Mark shook his head to clear it and tried not to pinch himself awake. This was an amazing dream “Holy F&$?.... I mean shit shit I mean crap no no I mean thank you! Sorry I just don’t know what to say this has been my dream since the Ares program was announced.'' Teddy and Venkat both stifled laughter at the reaction. After reading Mark’s files and interviewing his former commanders and crew mates they expected nothing less.  
“Do you accept the offer?” Venkat asked, trying to keep this meeting professional. “The rest of the crew has accepted and you would complete it as the lowest ranking member.” Mark actually laughed out loud. As if his position in the hierarchy of the crew would affect his decision. There was no question in his mind. “Hell yes I accept where do I sign!”  
“Well several hundred places” Teddy said “But we’ll start with a non disclosure agreement for now” Venkat slid a piece of paper towards Mark. Mark’s dad was a lawyer so if there was one thing he learned from him it was to read something before signing. “ I didn’t have to sign an NDA on my ISS missions Mark said as he scanned the agreement. It all seemed standard to him ”Don’t tell anyone you’ve been selected until we release the make up of the crew in an official press release....we have the right to takesies backsies if you’re an idiot” okay so that wasn’t the official language but that was the jist of it.  
“Well this is obviously more sensitive information that we would like to control as long as we can” Teddy answered. Mark would love to have his dad read over it like he did most of his NASA paper work but it was just a cookie cutter NDA and he wanted to lock this up so he signed. When he had finished signing Venkat took the paper and looked at it as Teddy spoke “Mark as I’m sure you are aware NASA has been sending people to Mars for over a decade so to some people the Ares missions have become routine...old news”  
“There is nothing routine or old news about taking humanity to another planet sir.” Mark responded while trying to restrain himself from jumping up and kissing both Teddy and Venkat in thanks.  
“ I agree,” Teddy said, “but that is how the general public sees these missions and public opinion affects the opinion of congress which in turn affects NASAs funding.” For the life of him Mark couldn’t figure out what he was saying but did his best to follow. “So for Ares 3 Annie Montrose our media director quite strongly recommended that Ares three have a strong social media presence Twitter, Facebook....  
“You don’t need to explain social media to Watney Teddy.” Venkat interrupted. “He's barely in his 30s if even that he’s a baby, look at him we’re sending babies to Mars” Mark shifted uncomfortably in his seat but stayed quiet.  
“You’re right I’m sorry Watney” Teddy continued “Because of that and that your duties on the ship would allow you the most time around the times of the mission that hold peak public interest we would like you to be in charge of those accounts. Is that something you’d be comfortable with?” Mark thought for a second “So I would be in charge of tweeting the obligatory photo of earth from the window and stuff like that?”  
“Well that and tweeting as well as classrooms” Venkat said. Mark had loved those classrooms as a kid and had spent hours watching them on YouTube. As a matter of fact watching Commander Hatfield and Scott Kelly give those classrooms is what made him want to be an astronaut. That was a tall order even for Mark.  
“Um the Instagram and Twitter well anything really I’m fine with but I have no experience with the classrooms and answering questions from kids.” Mark mumbled in response  
He was an only child the only experience he had with kids was his younger cousins at family get togethers and when things got complicated he passed the buck back to his aunts and uncles. He was much better cool weird older cousin material then being the smart astronaut that people looked up to and asked questions.  
Venkat smiled. “We know which is why you would personally train with Annie and you would be in charge of the classrooms on the next ISS mission” Mark did a double take “Wait what? I’m not scheduled for any tours right now and the next launch is in three months” Mark had hoped to be assigned another tour in a few years but this was out of left field. Well this whole meeting was but still. Teddy expecting this spoke up “Yes well Carter Harris has had a family health emergency and has pulled his name from this tour so we thought this would be a great opportunity for you to practice classrooms and clock up some more days in space.” This was all too much, Mark couldn’t believe this. “How long would this tour be?” Mark asked knowing that would be the first thing that his mom would ask  
Teddy who had the ISS schedule memorized answered right away “four months instead of the usual six. We don’t want you up there too long we don’t want to keep you from Ares training too long” Mark didn’t know how much longer he could keep himself from jumping up and down and fist pumping the air so he asked a question instead. “Sounds fantastic when would I meet Annie Montrose?”  
Venkat looked at his schedule on his computer then answered “The soonest she can meet with you so probably next week. We’ll have her email you. You can also expect an email from the selected commander for Ares 3” Mark had worked with all of the potential commanders for the Ares missions and he definitely had his favorites and some that he really didn’t like but he couldn’t help but wonder who he’d be working with for the next several years... years! It was thinking about this that had him thinking about how he was going to tell his parents. “So It would be okay if I flew home to Chicago for the weekend? It’s my mom's birthday and I want to tell my parents about the ISS tour.” Teddy straightened his blazer as he responded “Knowing how busy Annie is that should be fine I don’t see that being a problem. What about you Venkat?”  
Venket who understood too well just how busy Annie was agreed “No I don’t think that should be a problem there is no point in you keeping on your Ares candidate training schedule. Mark did a mental fist pump. He was totally going to break that NDA and tell his parents as soon as he could. Teddy walked across to Mark and shook his hand  
“Congratulations Mr. Watney, I look forward to working with you.”  
Mark stood up as he took the administrators hand “Thank you sir this is an amazing opportunity and I can’t express my gratitude.  
“You’re a talented man and deserve the opportunity.” and with that Teddy was out the door. Mark turned to Venkat who was now standing behind his desk offering his hand for Mark to shake. “Welcome to Ares Mr. Watney.”  
A few moments later Venkat heard a strange noise from the street below his office and stood up to go look out his window to see what was going on. Below Venkat watched as Mark Watney ran out of the building and proceeded to run around in circles fist pumping the air and woohooing. Mark Watney was a strange one and Lewis sure had her work cut out for her but Watney was the right choice for sure. Watney was going to Mars and Venkat was positive that they had made the right choice.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mark was walking onto the plane and listening to Jackson telling his mom how cool it was to talk to an actual astronaut. Mark took his seat and tried to organize his thoughts. It wasn't even 4:00 and Mark had been selected for a mission to mars, told he was going up on the ISS again and got a cute girl's number. This was the best day of his life! Well until he got out of the MDV and onto mars that was. That would be the best day of his life no doubt.

Mark closed the door behind him and took calming breaths but it wasn’t working. Nothing could calm him down. He had been selected! “Welcome to Ares Mr. Watney” kept echoing in his head. He had to keep it together until he got to his car or at least until he got out of the building but he wasn’t sure that was possible. He practically ran to the elevator and was shaking on the whole way down. What did he do now? He supposed he was supposed to wait until he got the emails that contained the information for his next tour on the ISS but for now... Mark gasped his parents! He grabbed his phone out of his pocket and looked for flights to chicago. Day of flights were expensive but he couldn’t wait and the flight from Houston to Chicago wasn’t that long. His meeting with Teddy and Venkat was pretty early so he could be in Chicago for dinner if he hurried. As Mark clicked book on a flight that left in three hours the elevator dinged and Mark ran off and out the front door. He couldn’t hold it in any longer. Mark let out a huge wahoo and fist pumped the air running around in circles. Mark got more than his fair share of weird looks but he didn’t care. HE WAS GOING TO MARS! After a few more fist pumps Mark had calmed down enough to call his dad. Mark tried to keep in touch with his parents but him calling in the late morning was strange so Richard Watney picked up on the second ring. His law firm could wait.   
“Mark? Are you okay?” Mark almost burst out the news right then and there but noticed the strange looks he was still getting and remembered the NDA he’d signed under an hour ago. “I’m fantastic!” The line went silent for a while before the elder Watney spoke “That’s great son but is there any reason you’re calling? Or...” Oh right! Mark's brain snapped back into action “Could you pick me up at the airport at six?” Mark started the long walk towards his car as his dad responded “I’m always willing to pick you up kiddo are you sure you're okay?”   
Mark smiled “Yes! I just have huge news that I want to share in person.”   
It was a little insulting how fast his dad responded to that   
“Who is she?” Mark fished for his keys as he got closer to where his car was parked   
“DAD WHAT THE HELL!” Richard Watney laughed at his own joke “Sorry you set yourself up for that one kiddo” Mark groaned his dad was the worst.  
“Yeah yeah...so you’ll be there at six?” Mark asked as he continued his search for his car. He was an astronaut and he couldn’t remember where he parked his car.   
“Yeah I’ll be there.” Mark's dad responded “but why can’t you just tell us over the phone?”   
Mark sighed “Because I just can’t I really can’t and it’s mom’s birthday so I should be coming anyway” Mark heard his dad typing on his computer as he responded   
“You’re right there she will be happy to see you” Mark finally found his car and climbed in causing the car to take over the call and as a result he missed a bit of what his dad was saying.  
“What was that?”  
“I said have a safe flight”   
“Oh sorry I started driving and I have no say on the safe flight matter though pilot could be an asshole”   
Mark could hear his dad laugh on the other end of the line as he kept working “You’re an astronaut you sure as hell better know how to be safe on a flying ship”   
“Okay you got me there dad” Mark laughed as he backed out of his parking space.  
“Alright Mark I love you but I’ve got to go I’ll see you at 6:00”  
Mark hung up the phone and if he let out a few more wahoos and did a few more fist pumps while laying on his horn no one needed to know. That was another plus of this day there was no one in the parking lot and no traffic at this time of day.   
He made it back to his apartment in record time. Mark ran up the stairs to his apartment and banged on his neighbors door and asked him to look in and water his plants for the weekend. He knew how to look after Mark’s apartment and did it often; it's not just anyone who Mark would trust to look after his babies.  
His neighbor agreed and Mark took off across the hall and into his apartment throwing random clothes into a bag before running back down the stairs to his car. As he drove, Mark wondered if he would have to sell his apartment when he took off for mars he’d be gone for a year and a half but he had years until then. Go to mars and come back homeless. Thirty minutes later Mark pulled into the airport parking lot his heart still hadn’t stopped racing. This was really happening; it wasn’t a dream. He was sitting in his car waiting to go get on a plane to tell his parents that he was going to mars. Mark turned his car off and started walking across yet another giant parking lot but was soon in the security line. You’d think flying midday on a monday would mean shorter lines but nope. As the line got shorter Mark noticed a kid behind him watching him from behind his mother's leg. He looked like he was five but he had no idea so he just gave a wave and a smile before he had to take off his shoes,hat and belt to go through the scanner. Mark walked through the scanner, put his shoes back on and started towards his gate. As Mark was looking for a seat next to an outlet he noticed that the little boy who had been looking at him apparently he was on his flight because he and his mother were walking towards the seats next to him.   
“Are you an astronaut?” Mark gave a start and realised that the little boy was talking to him.  
“Oh I’m so sorry” the boy's mother said “He’s a bit obsessed with space right now and he must have recognised the NASA logo on your hat” She turned back to her son “No honey lots of people can get a hat like that...”   
Mark spoke up “Oh it’s ok! I actually am an astronaut” the boys mother looked shocked   
“Really?” Mark smiled   
“Sure am! As a matter of fact I’m going up to the ISS again here pretty soon” The little boy's eyes grew as big as dinner plates when he heard this and he came out from behind his mom “Again! So you’ve been to space!”   
Mark thought this was pretty awesome he’d never talked to a kid about space like this before it was great practice and if it boosted his self esteem so be it. He rode bombs into orbit he was pretty badass.   
“I have! I’ve been twice already”   
“What’s it like” the little boy asked, climbing into the chair next to Mark.   
“I’ll tell you if you tell me your name” Mark said looking at the mom to see if that was okay. When the little boy saw his mom nod her consent he spoke up gaining bravery every second. “I’m Jackson”   
“And I’m Sarah,” the boys mom added, putting down their bags.  
“ I’m Mark” he added holding out his hand for Sarah to shake   
“What's space like!” wow there was no beating around the bush with this kid “What’s it like floating all the time what games do you play?” Mark thought for a bit   
“Ready for me to blow your mind? Technically you're not floating you’re falling in a constant free fall because... ” Jackson looked confused right, he was five. Okay he had to dumb it down. “It’s pretty awesome.” Mark said as he racked his brain for a funny story that involved microgravity “We don’t have a lot of time to play because we’re so busy working but our bosses tell us we have to play sometimes so we have a few games. Do you play darts?” Jackson screwed up his face as he tried to remember what darts were.  
“Wait, you play darts on a spaceship?” Sarah asked slightly surprised but before Mark could answer Jackson spoke again “Is that the one where you throw the pointy thing?”   
Mark nodded “Yup so obviously you can’t play normal darts on a spaceship someone may get hurt or hurt the ship so we had to come up with our own version that would work in micro gravity.”   
“How does that work then?” Sarah asked.  
Mark laughed to himself as he thought about his last game of space darts he’d dominated and was determined to keep his record on his next trip. “It’s very scientific, actually. You take a camera battery for weight, some 8.5/11 paper and zip ties for the wings, duct tape them together and then you can float it at your target. We also play lots of scrabble.”  
Sarah looked confused at that “Wouldn’t the pieces float everywhere?”   
“We have a high tech solution for that” Mark said “The tiles are velcroed down”   
Jackson was getting antsy “Do you ever get bored of doing flips?” Mark had the answer for that one right away “I’ve been to the ISS two times so I’ve been in space for the equivalent of an entire year I’ll have you know that I am a VERY serious astronaut... no you never get tired of playing around in space. Do you ever get tired of eating ice cream? It's like that. It’s that awesome” Mark spent the time until his section was called answering more questions about life in space he got all of the basics “How do you sleep? What’s the food like? How do you cook your food?” Every answer he gave had little Jackson enthralled and giggling. Maybe he wouldn’t be so bad at these classrooms. It didn’t hurt that Sarah was smiling and laughing as well and that Mark had just noticed how cute Sarah was. But the flight attendant had the nerve to call his section just as he was getting up the courage to start asking her some questions.   
“Well I should get going” Mark said as he picked up his bag “It was really nice talking to you....um look I don’t want to seem too forwarded and you can call me an asshole but...” Sarah smiled “But can you have my number?” Mark blushed; he didn’t think he was that obvious. “Um yeah but his dad is probably...”   
“An asshole who isn’t in the picture anymore? Yeah you can have my number”   
Mark couldn’t believe this! This day couldn’t get any better. After they exchanged numbers and said goodbye Mark was walking onto the plane and listening to Jackson telling his mom how cool it was to talk to an actual astronaut. Mark took his seat and tried to organize his thoughts. It wasn't even 4:00 and Mark had been selected for a mission to mars, told he was going up on the ISS again and got a cute girl's number. This was the best day of his life! Well until he got out of the MDV and onto mars that was. That would be the best day of his life no doubt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> check out my tumblr Ask Mark Watney!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How do you tell your parents you're going to mars?

The plane landed and Mark pulled out his phone and took it off airplane mode. He shook his head as he thought about how silly the concept of “airplane” mode was. Whoever came up with the bullshit excuse that phones interfered with the navigation systems had obviously never been on a spaceship. You can call home whenever you want on the ISS from low earth orbit but you better not text someone at 31,000 feet. Mark refreshed his email to see if any of the emails he was expecting had come through. He knew that there would be nothing there but he was really excited so he was refreshing it again when a text came through from his dad telling him that he was in the pick up line waiting for him. That was his dad for you, ridiculously punctual. He supposed part of it came with the territory of being a lawyer but that didn’t mean that it wasn’t annoying sometimes. Mark sent a quick thank you to his dad telling him that he had landed safely and was on his way. As he exited the plane he caught Sarah’s eye and smiled at her,damn she was cute. Luckily Mark’s plane had landed at a gate that was pretty close to the front of the airport so before he knew it he was standing on the curb looking for his dad but with no luck.  
“Mark!” he turned around but still didn’t see anything  
“ Mark!”  
“Marcus!”  
There he was! Mark ran over to where his dad was hanging out of his car window trying to wave him down.  
“Move over” Mark said as he approached his dad’s car “I’m driving” Richard Watney remained behind the wheel “Not with how you drive”  
“You taught me how” Mark countered as he threw his duffel into the back and climbed into the passenger seat. “You’re the slowest driver ever”  
Mark's dad pulled out of the airport parking lot and started towards their house. “Well I also taught you how to use a spoon and the toilet...” Mark hid behind his backpack and groaned “OKAY, OKAY I GET IT YOU CAN KEEP DRIVING IF YOU SHUT UP!”  
“Speaking of shutting up.” Mark's dad said “what is this big news you had to fly all the way out here for? Did you get another tour or something?” Mark poked out from behind his backpack “I’ll tell you when you and mom are together and you know it’s okay to go at least 5 over the speed limit right?” The older Watney rolled his eyes and slowed down even more just to annoy his son. “Fine fine I’ll wait”  
“Well you’ll have to” Mark responded fighting the urge to get out of the car and push. After what seemed an eternity they pulled into the driveway and Mark climbed out of the car and walked over to his garden that his mom cared for and started checking on it. Mark was looking at an impressive red annual when he was almost knocked over by his mom running out and giving him a hug.  
“MARK! I didn’t know you were coming!”  
“Hey I wouldn’t miss your birthday and I like what you did with the front garden this year.”  
Marks mother let go of him and stepped back to look at the garden with him.  
“Really? You usually criticize it and say I’ve ruined it” she teased  
Mark gasped and feigned offense. “ On your birthday! I would never! But there is always tomorrow and I haven’t seen the backyard yet” She laughed at this as she bent over and pulled a weed.  
Mark was picking up the weeds his mom had pulled and thrown on the walkway when his dad walked up carrying the bag he’d forgotten. “So what’s big news kiddo”  
Mark rubbed the dirt off his hands onto his pants “OK OK OK we need to go inside though because I’m gonna freak out when I tell you and I signed an NDA soooo.” Mark’s dad looked concerned at this “ How much trouble could you get into for telling us?”  
“None if you don’t squeal on me for telling” Mark called over his shoulder as he walked inside.  
It took a while but Mark was eventually able to get both of his parents sitting on the couch in the front room.  
“Mark,” his dad said, “What the hell is this all about? It’s getting really annoying.”  
Mark took a deep breath “First things first I’m going up to the ISS again...”  
His mom gasped and clapped her hands together at this news “MARK THAT’S AMAZING!”  
Marks dad who was a calmer man when it came to big news simply smiled  
“That’s fantastic! How long this time?”  
Mark sat down on the piano bench facing his parents “four months”  
“Well at least it’s not six this time” his mom said “half a year is just to long to go without seeing you”  
Mark gave a shit eating grin as he kept talking. “You think six months is long... try a year”  
Mark's dad did a double take “NO! NO WAY!” his mom however just looked confused.  
“A year?” Mark couldn’t keep it in any more.  
“YES! I had a meeting with the director of mars operations and the administrator of NASA today and they told me I”M GOING TO MARS ON ARES 3!”  
His parents screamed at this and before Mark knew what had hit him both of his parents were hugging him and jumping up and down.  
“Oh honey this is AMAZING!” marks mom said before giving him a kiss. “I’m so proud of you!”  
“I’m going to mars....holy shit I’m going to walk on another planet!” It was still sinking in. His life's goal was really happening. “This is really happening!” he said out loud “And aunt Deb said my masters in Botany wouldn’t take me anywhere and it was a waste of time and money, WELL IN YOUR FACE AUNT DEB! HOW’S MARS FOR SOMEWHERE! WHO SHOULD HAVE GONE TO LAW SCHOOL NOW!”  
“Well your masters degree in mechanical engineering might have helped” Marks dad added “ just a little bit and I did pay for those degrees”  
Mark rolled his eyes “Shut up or I won’t fix your car next time or translate something from Russian!”  
Mark's dad groaned “THAT WAS ONE TIME!”  
“YOU HAD ME TRANSLATE TV INSTRUCTIONS FROM RUSSIAN TO ENGLISH FROM SPACE!” Mark yelled  
“I LOST THE ENGLISH VERSION AND YOU WERE ON THE PHONE WITH YOUR MOM AND YOU READ RUSSIAN IT WAS AN OBVIOUS SOLUTION!” his dad retalited.  
Mark put his head in his hands “Yes I read russian so in case something happens with their part of the ship I can read how to fix it. All ISS astronauts do! I would also like to point out I was in space! That was also my one video call for the week and you took my personal time for that day and turned me into a long distance translator!  
Marks dad started laughing at Marks comment “It’s pretty funny when you think about it”  
Mark started laughing as well. It was pretty damn funny.  
Mark’s mom had heard enough “Boys knock it off”  
“Not until he learns how to use the internet” Mark said, sticking his tongue out.  
“Yup that's my son, the astronaut so smart that NASA is going to send him to mars.” Mark was tempted to flip his dad off but settled on blowing a raspberry instead.  
“Mark” his mom chastised  
“You going to the ISS is hard enough and we get to video call you once in a while.”  
Mark shrugged “Well we’ll still be able to video call for a bit until the light minute delay makes that impractical but then we can email.  
Mark’s mom sighed “Light minutes away you're going to be light minutes away. And I thought sending you to the ISS was hard that's only a few seconds”  
“I’ll be fine NASA has the smartest people in the world and redundancy after redundancy to make sure we’re safe don’t worry about that.” Mark reassured her  
“ All we need to worry about right now Mark said, putting his hands together is who’s up for some pizza!” 

Mark stood on the back deck of his childhood house looking up at the stars. He’d spent all of dinner giving his parents an Ares mission crash course and talking about his new duties on his upcoming ISS tour but he still wasn’t sick of it. He could talk about space forever and he could look at it even longer.  
“Which ones mars?” Mark turned around and saw his dad coming out on the deck with two beers.  
“You can’t really see it yet” Mark answered, taking the drink with one hand and pointing to the sky with the other “but see that really bright star? The one by the horizon, that's it.”  
“Wow” his dad whispered, “you're going there you’re really going to mars.”  
“I know right!” Mark responded “I’m going to walk all over that bitch” Mark's dad took a swig from his beer and looked at his son “So the ship that takes you to mars is called the Hermes?”  
Mark kept looking at the sky as he responded “Yup it’s huge. The most expensive thing ever built and I get to be her engineer. Only two other people in the history of the world have been able to say that.”  
“I’ll look out for giant expensive falling spaceships then.” Mark's dad said, repeating the same joke he’d made when Mark had told him he was going to the ISS for the first time. “Can you see the Hermes from earth?”  
Mark smiled. His parents gave him shit but they supported him in everything he did.  
“When it’s docked in low earth orbit you totally can. That’s actually why I’m out here. I looked it up and she should be passing above us here pretty soon.” and with that Mark sat down with his dad on the deck between his old telescope and a bag of planting soil to wait for his spaceship to orbit above them.  
“You know what I just realized” Mark’s dad asked “You’re going to be in some history book somewhere”  
“No I’m not '' Mark laughed “unless one of my crew mates isn’t American I’m going to be the 18th person on mars. Bad ass but hardly history book material.  
“Sure you are” his dad responded “ Marcus Richard Watney one of the first 20 people to walk on another planet”  
Mark rolled his eyes at the use of his full name “Okay maybe a lame footnote that no one will ever read”  
“Maybe” his dad pondered “ Speaking of when do you find out who else is on the crew?  
Mark hadn’t really put much thought into that, sure he’d thought about who his commander would end up being but not about who else would be on the crew. He had worked with all of the candidates so whoever else had been selected he knew at least a little bit. He was an outgoing person and was sure that he could get along with anyone but he hoped Morris wasn’t chosen, he’d much rather have Martinez. He didn’t know either of the potential pilots extremely well but Morris just got on his nerves and Martinez was hilarious. He came off as a serious air force man but Mark could tell that’s not all he was and that they could be friends. Maybe Martinez would end up as commander. Well, Mark could hope because when it came to commanders all of the other names that came to mind came off as hard asses especially Lewis who seemed like a real jerk sometimes.  
“I don’t know,” Mark answered “Kapoor said I’d be getting an email from the commander soon but didn’t say when. It’s A Monday so I’d say..THERE SHE IS!”  
Mark pointed into the sky at a steady bright light that moved quickly across the night sky. “There she is THAT’S MY SHIP!”  
His dad’s eyes followed his finger to the bright light in the sky “That tiny light is going to take you to another planet?”  
“Sure is” Mark answered, his eyes not straying from the tiny light in the sky. “It’s gorgeous isn’t it?” Mark asked as he stood up and grabbed his old telescope from against the wall and pointed it at the Hermes. He knew he wouldn’t see anything but the 12 year old space nerd in him was forcing its way to the surface.  
“It sure is. You’re in for one hell on an adventure kiddo”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why Mark's dad has a Russian TV I don't know but I read that ISS astronauts have to pass a Russian language course so my head cannon was born.  
> My head cannon that Mark's dad is a lawyer came from "Space pirate" why else would mark think about laws on mars? And Just Imagine Teddy finding out the astronaut they left on mars dad is a lawyer "sweats nervously"


	5. Public Relations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You must be Mark Watney,” Annie said, standing up and shaking his hand.   
> “I am and you must be Annie Montrose it’s nice to meet you”   
> “That I am” Annie said as she gestured to the couch on the opposite wall of her office telling Mark to take a seat. “Let me start by saying congratulations on being selected for Ares 3”

Mark closed and locked the deck door behind him as he stepped into the kitchen of his parents house. He had stayed out stargazing lost in thought for quite a while after his dad had gone inside to bed and it was going on 2:00 AM. It hadn’t helped that he had gotten a text from Sarah and had texted back and forth for quite a while before she had fallen asleep. Mark used the flashlight on his phone so he didn’t wake up his parents by turning on the lights and crept around the kitchen and living room looking for his duffle that had his toothbrush. Having succeeded in finding it by the couch in the front room he headed up to his childhood bedroom. He slept there whenever he visited his parents but it was still like stepping back in time to highschool whenever he walked in and this time was no different nothing had changed. His Ares 1 and Cubs posters were still on the wall and his shelves were still full of science fiction books and little league trophies. Mark knew he wasn't going to be able to sleep tonight but he had to try. A few moments later Mark was in bed looking up at the glow in the dark star stickers on his ceiling and was wondering how those stickers had lasted since he was in middle school when he was woken up by his parents walking around the house. Mark rolled over and checked his phone. It was 9:00 in the morning he'd fallen right asleep. It took Mark a moment to realize where he was and remember why. Holy shit yesterday had really happened! Mark was relishing the feelings of yesterday as they came flooding back when he remembered the emails that he was expecting. Mark unplugged his phone and rolled onto his back while refreshing his email. His heart rate rocketed as an email came through. 

From:A.Montose@NASA.gov  
To:M.Watney@NASA.gov  
Dear Mr.Watney,  
Congratulations on your upcoming ISS tour and Ares 3 selection! I understand that you are to be in charge of the social media accounts and classrooms for Ares 3 as well as your upcoming ISS tour. Teddy Sanders and Venkat Kapoor have asked me to set up a few meetings with you to give you a few pointers on dealing with the public and the classrooms. Could you meet Thursday at three?  
Annie Montrose   
Head of media relations   
Johnson Space Center  
Houston,TX  
Mark read and reread that message smiling to himself. He’d have to get right back on a flight tonight or early tomorrow the earlier the better he didn’t want to show up wearing the dirty UofC shirt and jeans he’d managed to pack. But he could make Thursday work. He'd catch a flight wednesday afternoon and be in Houston that night.   
From: M.Watney@NASA.gov  
To: A.Montrose@Nasa.gov   
Dear Mrs. Montrose,  
Thank you so much! In my meeting yesterday with Mr. Sanders and Mr. Kapoor I was told the same thing. I would love to meet with you and get a few pointers. 3:00 on Thursday works well for me. I look forward to working with you.  
M.Watney   
Mark looked over the email he’d written. For something that he’d spent ten minutes writing it was pretty damn short but it got the point across and was professional so he held his breath and pushed send. After he hit send Mark battled with himself for a while before finally climbing out of bed and going downstairs to the kitchen.   
“Morning sweetie” Mark's mom greeted him as he walked in.  
“Morning” Mark responded as he sat down at the table and started looking through social media. “I have a question”   
Mark’s mom took a jug of orange juice from the fridge as she responded “what’s on your mind?”   
Mark closed Twitter and put his phone down “Yesterday did I tell you that I was going to Mars?”   
His mom laughed “Yes,yes you did.”  
He smiled “And it wasn’t a dream? Yesterday really happened?”  
Mary watney put a glass of orange juice in front of her son still laughing “Yes,yes it did.”  
Mark took the glass and whispered “Holy shit that's amazing” to himself before asking his mom what he could do to help around the house while he was here. Mark spent the rest of that day and the next afternoon fixing things around the house and working in his garden in the backyard before he had to catch his flight back to Houston for his meeting with Annie which he didn’t think he would be so nervous for but now that he was standing outside of her office he was pretty nervous. He needed to get this over with so he knocked on her office door.   
“Come in!” Annie called. Mark walked in and was immediately taken aback by the size of the office. Apparently being the head of media relations for NASA was a pretty sweet gig.   
“You must be Mark Watney,” Annie said, standing up and shaking his hand.   
“I am and you must be Annie Montrose it’s nice to meet you”   
“That I am” Annie said as she gestured to the couch on the opposite wall of her office telling Mark to take a seat. “Let me start by saying congratulations on being selected for Ares 3”   
Every time Mark heard that sentence his heart still started racing it had been three days at this point he didn’t think that it would stop anytime soon. “Thank you. I still can’t believe it.” Mark responded as he took a seat.   
Annie checked her phone one last time before she put it away “It must be surreal”   
“It really is” Mark chuckled. Annie looked somewhat unamused but decided to move on with this meeting “Mark” Annie started “I’m assuming you have but have you ever seen any of the classrooms from the ISS?”   
“Of course” Mark responded “Those classrooms are what made me want to be an astronaut in the first place.” Annie smiled maybe this wouldn’t be so bad  
“Then you know the basics of what we are looking for, answering basic science questions for schools and talking about life in space.” Mark nodded so Annie kept talking “During the four months you’re up on the ISS we’re scheduled for two school events and a possible third and we would want a few videos on life in space as well, how you cut your hair and sleep, stuff like that people love that shit, keeps them interested. I’ll send you the topics we want the videos on when I finally have some time to come up with them but for now just expect to make a few videos and take a few photos from the cupola.”  
“Won’t be a problem.” Mark responded “That’s my favorite spot on the station. I'd love to have an excuse to work in there. What schools are the events for?”   
Annie was ready for this question and was actually kind of excited to see his reaction. “Evergreen Elementary in Florida and Chicago Central middle school” Mark looked shocked   
“Are you shitting me, that's where I went, you didn’t plan that, did you?” Annie shook her head “ Wait really? I thought you might like that one when I saw you were from Chicago but I didn’t think you’d actually gone there. I swear it wasn’t on purpose.”   
Mark shifted on the couch as he responded. “Weird as all hell, the building was shit though” Annie rolled her eyes.   
“I’m not one to talk but you have one hell of a mouth.”   
Mark laughed “Yeah I’ve been told that my entire life and to think, I learned a lot of those words at that very school.”   
Annie sighed and looked out the window. Maybe this wouldn’t be so easy. “Well I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that dropping the F bomb in front of a bunch of 10 and 12 year olds won’t go over well.”   
“No shit” Mark responded. Annie fought the urge to face palm as she carefully thought through her next words. “You’ll get the questions in advance so you will have time to come up with answers so no f bombs.”   
“Right” Mark said “don’t say fuck. Got it.”  
Annie put her face in her palms and sighed. Working with Mark Watney was going to be no picnic.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! check out my Ask Mark tumblr   
> https://askmarkwatney.tumblr.com/


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